“In 1915, Italy entered the war joining the Allies of Britain, France, and Russia. At this time, the Dolomites were still a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a member of the opposing Central Powers. Until the end of 1917, the Austrians and Italians fought a brutal mountain war here. Not only were they fighting each other, trying to gain control of peaks for artillery and line-of-sight advantages, but also against the fierce climate and verticality of these mountains.” From Dolomitemountains.com

There is some fascinating history here. One can descend the whole mountain in these tunnels, but that didn’t appeal to me. Just looking into these cold, dank spaces gave me the shivers! I could imagine the poor men who had to create and live in these tunnels all the while battling an enemy that wanted to kill them and the brutal mountain weather. It’s sad that such awe-inspiring landscape was the scene for such awful human enterprise. I’m glad that it’s all about tourism now.